The new year had arrived with the holiday season having come and gone. Every single creature, human or pony, was full of nothing but excitement and goals for the new year. However, there was one individual who wasn’t in the mood for the new year after the events of the month prior. Sunset Shimmer had been led down a path of both depression and betrayal, thanks to the infamous MyStable user “Anon-a-Miss.”
After suffering from a week of bullying, taunts, and beatings, the former unicorn had enough. She cut her losses and ultimately retreated back to her former home of Equestria, to avoid any more harassment from the students and faculty. After the princess of friendship was informed about these events, she took it upon herself to confront the entire student body in an attempt to expose the true culprit and to clear her friend’s name. Eventually the alicorn managed to put two and two together and found out the identities of the perpetrators behind the Anon-a-Miss account: Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, better known as the Crusaders.
After pondering the situation, Twilight soon came to a realization that the whole event was similar to the “Gabby Gums” incident that happened in her world, where the pony versions of the Crusaders were blackmailed into spreading everyone's secrets by the bully Diamond Tiara. But it was a whole other story in the human world. After getting the trio to confess the truth, it was revealed that the girls weren’t blackmailed like their pony selves were. Their actions were intentional, all because they were jealous that their sisters were spending more time with Sunset than with them during the holiday season.
Twilight was disgusted at the trio's actions, even more so by the fact that they did it out of jealousy. The three girls eventually confessed to the student body and their sisters, who were not happy with the trio in the slightest. But it wasn't just them that Twilight was furious at. She took it upon herself to berate and scold not only the students, but the principals and faculty as well, for their harsh treatment toward Sunset and not believing her after she had spent the last few months making up for her past sins. While a part of her couldn't blame any of them, especially the Rainbooms, for what they did considering Sunset’s past actions, she nevertheless wished that they hadn't fallen for this trick so easily, as Sunset could have reached a breaking point and ended her own life if this transpired any further.
Before departing back to Equestria, Twilight looked at the Rainbooms one last time and instructed them to make sure that their sisters received their punishments, and to make sure that they each give Sunset one hell of an apology for when—or if—she decides to return. The five of them promised on both parts as they watched the Princess of Friendship walk through the portal back to her own world—maybe forever.
Even though her name was finally cleared, Sunset was in no condition to immediately return home, as she was still far too hurt from how she was treated. She asked Twilight if she could stay in Equestria for a little while longer, to which the latter happily obliged. Sunset would then go on to stay in Equestria for two whole months, taking the time to meet new ponies and finally reconcile with Princess Celestia. At last, the fire-headed girl finally decided that it was time to head back and confront the Rainbooms to hopefully put the incident behind them, no matter how hard it was going to be.
Inside the Castle of Friendship, Sunset was in her room packing up her belongings when Twilight walked in. “You got everything?”
“Yes, I do.” Sunset replied with the quietest tone possible as she finished loading up the last of her belongings inside of her backpack. However, Twilight was quick to notice that her friend had a look of anxiety written all over her. Despite being away for a few months, the Princess of Friendship wondered if her friend was completely ready to return.
“Sunset… are you absolutely sure that you’re ready to go back?” she asked. "Because if you’re still hurting, you’re more than welcome to stay in the castle for another month until you’re ready to face everyone.”
Sunset shook her head at Twilight's proposal. "No Twilight, I can't run away from this anymore. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt a lot to be accused like that. And I was so happy to finally get the chance to spend my first Christmas with the girls only to have it come crashing down.”
Twilight's look of worry increased, but Sunset continued on. “But… deep down, while the Crusaders’ actions were not the answer, I can't really blame the girls, or everyone else, for accusing me. I was an awful person that made their lives a living hell for two whole years. If I was in their shoes, I’d probably think it was me too.
“While it still hurts inside, I want to try and put this incident behind us all. I can tell that they're all genuinely sorry, and I want to try my best to forgive them. One key note about friendship is that there's going to be big mistakes and falling outs from time to time, but it's never too late for reconciliations. The girls aren't just my friends… they're my family. And I want to try to move on from this incident as best as I can, no matter how hard it will be. So, I'm going to hear their apologies and see where it goes, and we'll move on from there and try to put Anon-a-Miss behind us once and for all.”
Twilight was at a loss for words. While a part of her was still wary about Sunset returning so soon in her current state, she also knew that there was no running away from this issue forever. She knew that this was mainly between Sunset and the Rainbooms and that she had no right to get in between them. They needed to sort out their problems themselves.
Twilight nodded at her friend. “Alright Sunset, if this is what you want to do, then I won’t stop you. But please be careful. And be sure to choose your words carefully when you confront them. I'm actually planning on having another word with them later this week as well, but I'll let you say your piece to them first before jumping in. Be sure to write to me once you've had a word with them.”
The young alicorn was then met with a hug by her fire-headed friend. “I promise,” she reassured her. Twilight returned the hug with a smile.
After a few seconds, Sunset and Twilight parted the hug, and Twilight fed magic into the mirror, allowing the portal to the human world to open. Sunset made her way towards the portal, but not before waving goodbye to her friend one last time. Finally, she stepped inside the portal back to her home. Twilight watched on with a look of both worry and hope as she watched Sunset step through the portal, which closed behind her.
“Celestia speed Sunset.”
Five minutes later
A rippling effect of magical energy began to form at the center of the statue that stood proud at the center of CHS, and soon a portal emerged as Sunset Shimmer, back in her human form, emerged from the other side, landing on her feet nicely and easily. Soon the portal dispersed as the statue reverted back to its normal state as the fire-headed teen proceeded to survey her surroundings. She looked up at the school building in front of her, which brought back memories of not only last winter, but the times she spent with her human friends after her reformation. After a moment of collecting her thoughts, she took out her smartphone to check the time. It was 11:26am, indicating that the next class period hasn't started yet.
As she placed her phone back into her pocket, she took a long sigh. “Well… as Dash would say, time to get this over with.”
With nothing more to say, the fiery teen made her way toward the entrance of the school. After making her way up the small flight of stairs, she was soon met with the main door. But before she could open it, Sunset hesitated for a moment. She wondered if she really wanted to do this, but shook it off, knowing that there was no running away anymore. It was about time she confronted her peers after two months of solitude. The teen finally mustered up the courage and opened the door, making her way inside.
Sunset found herself in the main hallway, where she was expecting to be met by a hall of happy go lucky students. To her surprise, the fire-headed girl was instead met with a crowd of depressed and saddened students. Even the faculty had grim looks on their faces. Sunset was confused as to why everyone looked sad and depressed, even after two months. A part of her wanted to believe that everyone was simply riddled with guilt for falsely accusing her, but the looks that she surveyed seemed much grimmer. It was almost as if someone died recently and everyone was grieving. No one even bothered to address or greet her as she walked by. It felt like they were too preoccupied with something else entirely to notice. She also saw no sign of either the Rainbooms or the Crusaders. Before she could ponder anymore, a voice called out to her. “Shimmer?”
Sunset was quick to turn around to find Gilda Griffon standing behind her, with a look of great pity that outmatched everyone else's. “Hey Gilda,” Sunset greeted.
There was an awkward silence between the two teens until the tough girl finally broke the ice. “It's been a while since we've seen ya.”
Sunset nodded. “Yep… two whole months…”
“Ya did the right thing, taking a break…” Gilda looked down at the ground. “If I was in your shoes, can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing… just take some time to myself to cool off from all this shit.” She looked back up. “So, what brings you back? Are ya feeling better now?”
Sunset hesitated with some nervousness. “Well… yes and no. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm still here to stay, but I have a lot of feelings about everything that happened last Christmas. But I'm planning on taking the mature route and hearing everyone's apologies, and do my best to move on from there. I’m going to see where it goes, and hopefully we can put Anon-a-Miss behind us.”
Gilda nodded. “Wow, that’s really nice to hear, Shimmer. It's not gonna be easy, though. Hope ya know that.”
“Believe me, I do.” Sunset replied. “Actually, do you know what's going on around here? Everyone looks more depressed than I was when I was accused, are they still feeling guilty about what happened? And where are my friends? And the Crusaders?"
Gilda opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated. She realized Sunset had no idea of just how much had happened since she fled the human world. Painful memories were already starting to flood back to the poor girl.
Sunset noticed the girl’s state. “Gilda? Are you ok? Please tell me… what happened?”
Gilda bit her lip. She took a deep breath and met Sunset’s eyes with her own. Tears were starting to form in her eyes.
“Shimmer… after ya left… something terrible happened.”
Wow, the Idea of the Anon-A-Miss story you had in mind is coming to light! Curious to see more of it.
I'm willing to bet it's Applejack that's been offed, got a good idea why.
Honestly, I would’ve told twilight to go screw herself.
Now this is interesting. I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes!
11657260
I am not sure, because she specifically is a character tag, I think it was someone else, and AJ plays a big role in a different way
11657284
I'm aware about the tag, but I'm not guessing based on it.
11657290
Oh, I see
11657260
Fluttershy. Kind-hearted, shy, and prone to overreacting. Like Pinkie Pie, but the opposite extreme.
11657334
Fluttershy? Possible, but kinda too easy given that she is the fragile and sensitive one.
Pinkie? That one could be my second guess.
11657268
Twilight had every right to berate them as she did. This whole thing was one giant clusterfuck of incompetence by everyone but Sunset.
11657268
Dude, whose side are you on? They all deserve to be chastised.
Especially the principals, teachers, and other facility members for believing this crap, joining the hate train against Sunset, or didn't even investigate themselves on who's the real perpetrators are, or even allow this stupid cyber bullying to go on for too long.
11657367
I was thinking the second guess, but it was just a bit too easy to guess.
11657393
Not really. After everything she’s faced this is what disgusted her?
11657396
I’m not on any side I’m just making sure I point out flaws.
Would you be saying that if sunset shimmer did any of this? Because, you always seem bias towards her.
11657436
Remember, this isn't really Sunset's "style" to incompetently "expose" her identity of being Anon-A-Miss.
After all, when she was still in her "queen bitch" phrase, she didn't even let herself get caught. Heck, she tricked the Human Main Five to falsely hate each other for just 2 years, until Pony Twilight finally show up and outright tell them to use their pea brains, and connect the dots.
11657443
That didn’t answer my question.
11657444
You mean what if Sunset really did do this?
You're not understanding that there's several plotholes to your "reasoning";
Like why would Sunset herself even do this, to her new friends, and everybody else that she was trying to make amends of after Fall Formal?
( Despite trying to redeem herself in the eyes of everybody, and finally achieved it after defeating the Dazzlings. Do you really think that she will destroy her own reputation by doing this crap all over again? )
And even then, you really think that Sunset would shot herself in the foot by incompetently and "purposely" exposed self as the "Anon-A-Miss User"?
This isn't her "style" of blackmailing. Even the Human Main Five didn't know that it was her, until Pony Twilight show up in the first Equestria Girls movie.
11657468
I’m saying what if sunset had did anything bad. I’ve noticed how you would bashed characters for doing something but if sunset or a character you like does the same thing you’re ok with it. If you’re bias then just say you’re bias.
Sweet Jesus
11657260
I believe it can be Rarity and the fact that Applejack pops up in tag, she is would probably be in love with her
But it could also be Rainbow Dash
11657260
Could be pinkie pie
This comments is a warzone
11657474
It's not exactly bias, if Sunset was a scapegoat in the first place.
If this story is set in the first Equestria Girls movie or alternate reality, where Sunset is still a queen bitch, then that's different. I will be against her too for her bad attitude.
I have a feeling that Gilda will play a significant role in the story. I'm also hoping that during the Anon-a-Miss fiasco, she was on Sunset's side.
11657474
11657468
ok fellahs lets break it up, please there's no need to start a war.
11657496
11657509
Don’t worry no war here. Just me using my experience to make an opinion.
nice work
What's TBH? Do people actually talk like this? The thing is, I don't use Internet slang very often, and running across it in a story throws me out of the story.
11657530
It means to be honest. No one says it like that out loud unless to sound hip and cool.
11657530
It's mainly a slang term/ shorter way of saying "too be honest"
11657508
Believe me I have something planned for her in the story and in case your wondering, no this isn't a Sunset X Gilda story
11657509
11657512
No harm done.
I'm genuinely surprised this concept hasn't been done sooner. So many Anon-a-Miss stories have Sunset taking her own life, but how has there not been one with a Rainboom killing themselves instead?
Other then the many grammar mistakes, so far this seems to promise to be a good story. Going to watch it for now.
11657588
It might be because not many people care about the rainbooms that much, but it’s just a theory.
11657656
Dang I seriously need to work on that
But I'm happy your enjoying the story so far
11657966
I gave this chapter some proofreading/editing, would you like to see it?
11658010
sure ; )